The body that can provide a more definite answer to this question — regardless of how the Court of Appeals rules — is a short walk away in the state Capitol.

That's the state Legislature, whose members are entrusted with passing state laws. Of course, many state legislators have also broken the law in recent years — and managed to keep collecting pensions.

Given the large number of state lawmakers convicted of corruption and other crimes in the last decade alone (and it is a list too long for the space allowed for this column) it would be naive to not suspect one or more future felons is within the present Legislature.

With that mind, the issue over pensions becomes a little trickier.

Let's say the Court of Appeals agrees with the arguments of Raucci's attorney, Alan J. Pierce, who contends it is clear that pension checks are exempt from seizure under a state law that protects public employees' pensions from "execution, garnishment, attachment, or any other process whatsoever."

If that happens, would the Legislature be open to changing the law knowing it could keep some of its own members from collecting future pensions?

This will be an issue to bear watching after the Court of Appeals renders its decision.

DA vs. justices in Columbia County

A judge has ruled that a Kinderhook justice must turn over court transcripts to Columbia County prosecutors — the latest in an ongoing tug of war between the district attorney's office and the local judiciary.

Shortly after he was elected last year, Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka wrote a letter to the county's town and village justices informing them that his office would handle all cases and pleas and make final decisions on whether to drop charges in cases.

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Czajka, a Republican who is a former county judge, said he made a campaign promise to streamline prosecutions in the county's municipal courts. But Czajka has run into resistance which prompted some justices — such as Kinderhook Village Justice David Dellehunt — to take their own stance because they believe Czajka's position is removing them from the process. They have kept cases on their calendars and ordered defendants to appear in court even though Czajka has notified defendants that he would drop their charges and would not be in court.

Taghkanic Town Court Justice Jeffrey S. Tallackson fired off a stern letter to the district attorney on June 14, saying "the court is not a rubber stamp."

Czajka sued Dellehunt in state Supreme Court after the justice refused to provide his office with tape recordings to transcribe court proceedings on Oct. 2, 2012. That night, Czajka argued, the justice put dozens of cases on the calendar for bench trials the district attorney had dismissed; the prosecutor's office wants a record of what transpired.

Acting state Supreme Court Justice Cathryn M. Doyle ruled Dec. 26 that Dellehunt must provide the recordings to the district attorney's office.

"To have a transcript produced from an electronically recorded matter any person, including but not limited to a litigant, reporter or nosy neighbor may request that a copy of the disk be sent to a transcription service," Doyle wrote in her ruling. "In the interest of values placed on open court proceedings, this court sees no legitimate reason for a court to deny the district attorney's request."

Dellehunt, who works full time as a clerk for George Ceresia, the administrative judge of the Third Judicial District (which includes Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia, Schoharie, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan counties) would not discuss the matter with the Times Union.